I like the idea of this titanium iPhone body replacement. And that's why it's too bad it is just a nice, hyper-realistic 3D render or painted plastic body. Update: Great. Engadget just published a video, but is it really titanium?

First, the guy says this case costs not much more than the price of an iPhone. But the making of a custom, very intricate titanium part like this is a complicated and expensive process, one that would require ultra-precise CAD work and manufacturing. For CNC you will need a very high resolution machine, and molding is not available to mere mortals. Only someone at an aerospace company, a high end prototyping shop, or a factory would be able to pull this off. That's why you don't see custom iPhone bodies in the market—I want them, please—unless they are Chinese mass produced plastics.

One reader below who says he's worked in a titanium forging plant says this:

There is no way in hell that people would want to know the cost of a custom made highly detailed solid titanium part...lets just say if you don't like the cost of phones now, you will 100% hate the cost after they are made of unibody titanium."

If he discovers such a thing, I suggest he patents the hell out of it and sells it to the military. They would love it. There's the issue of having the mute button in the wrong orientation too, but it's ok. If you can create objects from nonobtamium, you can rearrange the circuitry inside the machine too.